Review: Honeck's Thrillingly Visceral Tchaikovsky Fifth

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5
Schulhoff: Five Pieces
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck (cond.) Reference Recordings

[@djquinn4212]

Here’s the thing that struck me about this performance: Honeck makes the last couple bars of the whole piece sound like the actual ending. So many performances make too much of the cadences, too many ritards, too much weight, whatever it ends up being, and Honeck just keeps moving until the final chord. It’s the best pacing of the coda I’ve ever heard, and for a symphony that musicologists criticize Tchaikovsky for not knowing how to end it, the fact that Honeck, to my ear at least, solves that problem is worth pointing out. Those are my thoughts. It really is a seriously great recording.

[@heatherharrison264]

This symphony is Tchaikovsky at his histrionic best, and I love it when conductors and orchestras really wallow in it. I've just bought it, and it is downloading now.

[@rogergersbach3300]

Thanks for the review, Dave. I have my favorite Tchaikovsky 5th (Muti), so I don't need another duplicate, with limited hard drive space being the main issue and not the performance itself. My classical library is now mostly complete, unless something really outstanding turns up. Ending my quest with Noskowski Symphony No 2, Rota film music and aforesaid Schulhoff (5) Pieces.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

You should hear this. It's very different from Muti, which I agree is superb.

[@GG-cu9pg]

Hi Dave. This recording is wonderful. Love the bass detail and the pacy first movement. I hope you will still make a Tchaikovsky best fifth symphony video! You’ve done 4. Time for 5? My favourite Tchaisymphonies are 5 and Manfred, but choices are pretty limited in that work (Silvestri for me).

[@rsmickeymooproductions4877]

Just listen to the final movement. This is a revelation. I have never heard as much detail in a recording. It's almost disconcerting because of the differences from other recordings. My head is in a spin.

[@khalilmutallibov]

Totally agree. This was splendid, exciting as hell. My only complaints are those two stupid diminuendo-crescendos, the first is at the end of the exposition of the first movement (brass), and the other one before the Presto coda. Aside from that, really one of the great performances of Tchaikovsky's Fifth.

[@joewebb1983]

A brilliant performance from start to finish. Phrasing and tempi absolutely spot on, they really go for it. Was he inspired by Silvestri? I think so. The only thing out of place was unnecessarily speeding up for the trumpets and horns at the end.

[@dmntuba]

Haven't heard this recording yet, but I need a cigarette after listening to you talk about it 🤣 Can't wait 👍

[@bingbongtoysKY]

😂😂😂"all the subtly of a fart in a crowded eleavator-"😂😂😂

[@brianrein]

I own the previous Exton recording and noticed the basically identical track timings (within 5-10 seconds for each movement when you factor out audience applause). That gave me pause. But just streamed the Schulhoff and it's so darn good on its own that it definitely justifies the purchase by itself!

[@karikaunisto1771]

Still waiting "the best of Tchaikovsky fifth"...

[@poturbg8698]

I had a negative reaction to this performance. Honeck on his bad days reminds me of Zander--eager to make points that he details in the booklet--but with more conducting skill.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Take an antihistamine. It's fabulous.

[@poturbg8698]

@@DavesClassicalGuideI'm not allergic to Honeck. I saw him conduct a fabulous Mahler 2 in Pittsburgh. It was reportedly recorded for commercial release, but that never happened.

[@alanmcginn4796]

Ok. Tchaik 5 binges for me. After this and the tchaik 5 talk. Jeesh. Will take hours.

[@barrysaines254]

I don't paying extra for his cds, but some of his recordings are unavailable. Is the record label the problem?

[@zdl1965]

"... with the subtlety of a fart in an elevator," a quote that will stand the test of time. A classic Hurwitzism. Imagine Hanslick or Schonberg saying that!

[@jimyoung9262]

I love Honeck. Gonna have to get this.

[@MisterPathetique]

Gee, I didn't know Honeck had already recorded Tchaikovsky's 5th for Exton. I got all the Mahler he made for that label but somehow I missed the Tchaik 5. This Japanese stuff can be quite infuriating. But thank you very much Dave, I'm gonna check it out immediately!

[@knutanderswik7562]

Dear Dave, you are right, the second movement is very nearly pianistic in its freedom, truly remarkable! But he does slow down briefly at that point "where the woodwinds have the tune" in the finale which drives me crazy, the whole trajectory of that orchestral rocket seems to sputter.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

No, it doesn't. You'll get used to it.

[@WyldRage]

Good to know. I love most of Honeck's work on Reference Recordings, but his previous Tchaikovsky recordings just didn't do it for me.

[@Paul-gl6wq]

Awesome recording of Tchaikovsky 5, I listened to the finale twice and nearly jumped out of my seat both times! However I can't get over my dislike of the Waltz in T5, and partake in the ungentlemanly act of skipping that track.

[@thomasvendetti3742]

Being a Boston boy, I’m a BSO fan. I even look back at old BSO recordings to hear what my grandmother’s generation enjoyed. The Koussevitzky Tchaikovsky 5th (both the broadcast and commercial performances) delivers the sort of flat out emotional interpretation that Dave describes. Too bad these recordings have dim sound. Maybe AI will process these recordings and future generations will not have to work so hard to realize the Russian passion that Koussevitzky employed.

[@barrysaines254]

Sadly, totally unavailable😕

[@georgeyoung2386]

Thanks, perhaps in sixty years of listening to this work, it's just that I've gotten used to what I've gotten used to, but there's just too much taffy pulling in both tempi and dynamics here. Sorry, I'll prefer Muti and Ozawa any day of the week.

[@richardarnold4437]

Maybe I'm in the same boat. Dave - you have introduced me to numbers of new recordings I love, but this doesn’t do it for me. I like the third movement where the woodwinds have a beautiful line, but in much of the rest, this seems choppy and even unbalanced, and the sound bottom-heavy and congested. There are passages in the first movement and the finale where he speeds up in ways that are exciting, but then he returns to a pulled-apart style, that to my ear, lacks any sense of being organic.